Continued Employment: Lawful Consideration in Non-Competes?
This post has been viewed 3,638 times.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently held that continued employment constitutes lawful consideration to support a non-compete agreement signed by an existing at-will employee. Runzheimer Int’l, Ltd. v. Friedlen, 2015 WI 45, 362 Wis. 2d 100, 862 N.W.2d 879 (Apr. 30, 2015). Settling an issue raised but not decided in the court’s prior decision in Star Direct, Inc. v. Dal Pra, 2009 WI 76, 319 Wis. 2d 274, 767 N.W.2d 898 (2009), the Runzheimer decision makes Wisconsin the thirtieth state to conclude that continued employment does constitute consideration.
Factual Background
Runzheimer International, Ltd., employed David Friedlen at will for more than 15 years before Runzheimer required all of its employees to sign non-compete agreements. The agreement provided, in relevant part, that for a period of 24 months following the end of Friedlen’s employment with Runzheimer, “for whatever reason,” Friedlen would not use or disclose Runzheimer’s confidential information, would not directly or indirectly sell to protected customers, and would not directly or indirectly provide services to Runzheimer’s competitors.
Read original articleTags:
